US attempts to hide PKK terror assembly under ‘Manbij Local Council’

The United States, which is attempting to legitimize the so-called Manbij Local Council that is comprised of Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) terrorists, took down PKK’s so-called flags for show and replaced them with those of the council.

Washington engaged in a similar name game in 2015 when it prompted the Syrian offshoot of the PKK, the Democratic Union Party (PYD), to change its name to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

The Manbij Local Council, which was formed in 2016 by the PKK, is headed by the terror group’s so-called Qandil team leaders such as Agid Ahmad, Jamil Mazlum, Ismail Derik and Shervan Dervish.

Although posters of PKK ringleader Abdullah Öcalan and PYD symbols are being taken down in Manbij and Tell Abayd, the Manbij Local Council’s flags are being unfurled in their place.

Following the Manbij deal struck between Ankara and Washington, U.S. officials have visited the city. Special Presidential Envoy for Global Coalition to Defeat Daesh Brett McGurk and Commander of U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) General Joseph Votel were among those who visited Manbij.

U.S. Foreign Ministry and Pentagon officials are continuing visits in order to legitimize the Manbij Local Council. The most recent delegation was pictured with the council members on June 26.

The Manbij roadmap was first announced after a June meeting in Washington between Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

The deal focuses on the withdrawal of the PKK-affiliated PYD terror group from the northern Syrian city and stability in the region.

Former Manbij Local Council member Issam Juma told Yeni Şafak daily that the only change was that the “the terrorists’ attire changed from military uniform to civilian clothing” in order to facilitate legitimacy.

Juma said that savage PKK terrorists, Ismail Derik, Jamil Mazlum, Shervan Dervish, and Agid Ahmad from Qandil were among those who form the Manbij Local Council, which has no links to the local public.

Northern Iraq’s Qandil Mountains have been a haven for PKK terrorists over the past few decades and is considered as the main base of the terror group.

“Every Manbij local is waiting for the day the two-year exploitation and occupation ends. Our people suffered first by the hand of Daesh and then the PKK. We are counting down the days for the Turkish army to enter,” Juma said.

Manbij local Hisham Ali says the PKK is looting the city. The terror group has been forcibly collecting money from locals as so-called tax, and moving all valuable equipment to Kobani, Ali said.

“The PKK seeks to punish locals who support Turkey, and the U.S. supports this,” he added.

The U.S. and the anti-Daesh coalition have largely ignored the PYD/YPG links to the PKK, which the U.S., EU, and Turkey list as a terrorist group.

Washington has supplied the PYD terror organization and its armed wing, the YPG, with more than 5,000 truckloads of weapons to allegedly use in the fight against Daesh, despite Ankara’s warnings that the fact they are the Syrian offshoots of the PKK terror organization.